Make no mistake, for those who want to see some Formula 1 cars go super fast, the new Brad Pitt movie, “F1” will not disappoint.
But those looking for a deeper dive into the sport that has taken many Americans by storm since the inception of the Netflix reality series, “Drive to Survive” may not be totally satisfied. Indeed, some of the movie’s toughest critics so far have been passionate racing fans.
Still, the newest film from Joseph Kosinski — the director behind the mega-successful “Top Gun: Maverick” — is undoubtedly a thrilling ride, even with a script that follows the most standard of sports movie beats.
The plot follows a standard three-act hero’s journey of team APX Grand Prix racers Sonny Hayes (Pitt) and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who go from down-on-their-luck rival drivers to solid teammates and winners. Hayes, who suffered injuries in a severe F1 crash in the 1990s, needs to be the mentor figure for Pearce.
A viewing of “Maverick” or the 1990 Tony Scott-Tom Cruise racing film “Days of Thunder” (probably “F1’s” two biggest influences) isn’t even required to know where the story is going. Watching any sports movie will suffice.
The movie relies on familiar sports movie tropes: rivals-to-friends, losers-to-winners, a love interest in the form of APX tech director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon). But there is at least some effort on the part of screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who concocted the story with Kosinski, to spice up the formula.
Hayes and Pearce’s journey isn’t a worst-to-first, since APX owner Ruben (Javier Bardem) asks the former to join the team with nine races to go. There’s no unrealistic hope of winning all of Formula 1. Rather, “F1” focuses on the development of Pearce and APX, both of whom will no longer be racing at the end of the season if there isn’t any noticeable improvement. (Additionally, the film dips a toe into examining how much the sport relies on athletes-as-brands and private equity.)
These details are just sprinkles on top of an adequate ice cream sundae. Not the best sundae ever, but it gets the job done. The true delight of the film comes in the form of the cinematography.
Kosinski rigged cameras up to fighter jets in “Maverick” and he found new ways to do so with race cars in “F1,” leading to truly exciting scenes to put moviegoers right in the middle of the action. Kosinski said the process of putting the heavy cameras on the light cars became a challenge, but the fruits of his and cinematographer Claudio Miranda’s efforts are admirable.
The camera hovers around the car and shoots views of the track and the drivers, who look so crammed into machines that could easily cause their deaths. The immersiveness also appears in the editing, where the sights and sounds of the track blend together to create an exhilarating, chaotic and death-defying experience.
No film can truly capture the experience of being an F1 driver, but Kosinski and Pitt’s film may be the closest most moviegoers are ever going to get.
Henry O’Brien is a contributor to CITY.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
